


Popular

by Paige242



Category: Superman & Lois (TV 2020)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29946459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige242/pseuds/Paige242
Summary: Two years after moving to Smallville, Jon tries to make his brother realize that things aren't like they used to be.
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Kent (Superman & Lois TV 2021) & Jordan Kent
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Popular

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to Daziy who gave me this idea in a review for one of my other stories. Hope you enjoy :)

“Julia Brown was starring at me again during chemistry today,” Jordan sighed as the Kent brothers rounded the corner of another dusty dirt road.

They were on their way home from school and had opted to walk rather than catch the bus that day. It was sunny out and they both loved being out in the sun.

Besides, it was a good way to avoid starting their homework and neither of them was in any rush to get back to the farm. 

“I don’t know…do you think she’s planning something? I’d better watch where I step, I guess.”

Jon could not hold back a laugh as his brother spoke. Sometimes, it was difficult to wrap his head around the fact that they were twins—Jordan was simply so clueless about certain things, the complete opposite of himself. Jon had always had a knack for reading social situations. 

“Yeah, I think she is planning something,” he agreed, still chucking, “rumour has it she wants to ask you to the Harvest formal next week.”

“What!?”

There was a note of pure shock in Jordan’s voice and the other teen stumbled for a second before resuming their walk.

“But…Julia Brown was last year’s harvest queen. And she’s dating Todd. There is no way in hell…”

“They broke up,” Jon noted with a shrug. He was way more up to date on the latest gossip and, like it or not, usually knew most of what was going on within the walls of Smallville High. It was kinda hard not to when you were cursed with super hearing. “Trust me, I overheard some of the girls yesterday at lunch. They were talking about the most eligible guys at school…and they narrowed it down to you and me. Face it, bro, you’re a hot commodity nowadays.”

Jon tilted his head to the side and noticed a slight flush creep across the other boy’s neck. Clearly, this was making him a little uncomfortable. And he could sense that his skepticism hadn’t yet faded.

For a guy who could see through walls, Jordan was shockingly blind. 

“Hot,” the dark haired twin laughed bitterly, amused by the absurdity of it. “Yeah, whatever.” 

Jon rolled his eyes in response.

“Are you serious right now?” He asked, his own sense of disbelief growing. Was it really possible to be so oblivious? Apparently, it was, because Jordan looked absolutely flabbergasted. “Dude, you’re six foot two, you’re in perfect physical condition even though you don’t work out and,” he paused, giving his brother a once-over, “you look a hell of a lot like Superman—the universally beloved hero who has been making women swoon for the last twenty-five years. There is no use denying it, you’re Superman's son and that means you're abnormally handsome. Girls want you and guys want to be you, deal with it.”

He could see Jordan’s mouth fall open in shock for a moment as he struggled to muster a reply to that very straightforward assessment. He’d probably never heard it put so bluntly before and Jon was fully aware that his brother was in a bit of denial about his growing resemblance to their dad. He was much closer to Clark than he had been in his early teens but that didn’t mean he wanted to turn into a mini-copy of the man. Especially since that had a few uncomfortable implications.

Their dad wasn’t exactly…human.

“Ew, Jon, that’s gross,” the other teen replied with a small shudder, “dad doesn’t make people swoon.” He wrinkled up his face in disgust. “He’s just…dad.”

Yeah, it was kind of a gross thought but he was simply speaking the truth. Everyone always went on about how handsome and dashing Superman was. Their mom especially, much to the twins’ dislike.

“Besides, girls don’t want to date weird alien freaks,” he added with a frown, “or weird half-alien freaks.”

Despite his brother’s gloom, Jon found himself chuckling again. He really was so dramatic.

“First of all, some girls do, apparently. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t be here,” Jordan groaned in revulsion but Jon continued, “Secondly, no one at school knows who we really are. And if they found out you can melt metal with your eyes and crush a building with your hands you’d probably just be even more popular.”

“I’m not popular.”

“Yeah, you are,” he was determined to make him see. He’d had more than enough of the silly self-doubt. “You’ve been invited to every party so far this year. Girls flirt with you left right and centre, you’re just too naive to notice. Terence McMaster invited you to come along on the football retreat and you haven’t eaten lunch by yourself a single day this year. Face it, you’re not the quiet loner anymore.”

Still, Jordan shook his head. “I’m just tagging along with you, you’ve always been the cool one,” he argued back stubbornly. “You’re the only reason anyone talks to me.”

Jon smiled, “don’t get me wrong, I know where I stand too. I understand these things way better than you do, apparently. We’re both doing well now, Jordan. And I, for one, am just going to embrace it. I don’t want to go back to where we started.”

They both remembered their rocky start at Smallville High. But, two years later, things did seem a hell of a lot brighter.

“I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do with this information.” Jordan muttered, more to himself than to his brother. “I thought I was just doing my own thing. Getting by.”

Jon shrugged again, “You don’t have to _do_ anything—though you could stop being paranoid that people are out to get you and just embrace the fact that you’re well-liked.” He paused, reveling in the feeling of the sun against his skin for a moment as he continued to walk, “and I guess you can thank dad for the blessings of your Kryptonian DNA. It has done you a lot of favours, recently.”

It was undeniable, really. They’d had normal childhoods but with puberty had come powers and optimum physical development. For both of them. At least his physique could be explained away by his love of sports (even though he knew that wasn’t the real cause). But Jon didn’t know of anyone else who could eat pizza and play video games all day and still emerge with a perfect six-pack at the age of seventeen.

It wasn’t _humanly_ possible. 

Jordan snorted, “so, in short, you’re saying that people think we’re both good-looking now and, as a result, I’m suddenly popular? Sounds pretty vain if you ask me.”

“It is,” Jon agreed without any argument, “it’s totally ridiculous, but it’s high school,” he paused for a moment, “and I’d like to think it’s not purely superficial. I mean, people think we’re nice too. We get good grades, we volunteer for stuff. You have an appealing air of mystery and I’m good on the sports field. All in all, it’s pretty good all around.”

He watched as his brother shook his head, clearly trying to come to terms with the thought. 

“And here I was thinking I was the socially outcast emo kid of Smallville High,” he said wryly.

Jon laughed yet again, “sorry, man. I’d say you’ve got much more of an “all-American Superboy” vibe going on nowadays.”

Jordan groaned and glared at his brother. “You do realize that I can blow you up with a single look, right?” 

“Yeah,” Jon shrugged, brushing off the familiar empty threat. “But I know you won’t. And you know I'm right."


End file.
